Duke (Aces MC Series Book 2)

by Foster, Aimee-Louise

  This was a common tactic of the law enforcement, trying to goad people to get a reaction but I wasn’t giving them anything today.

  “No officer, I don’t. Do you wanna enlighten me?” I said as I continued to make eye contact with him.

  “You have a broken brake light.” He stated pointing towards the rear of the vehicle.

  That was bullshit, I knew he was lying as we always made sure our vehicles were road worthy before we went on a job. He must have seen the confusion on my face.

  “Follow me.” He instructed.

  I followed him to the back of the van to see that both brake lights were intact. Turning towards him with a look of confusion, he smirked before smashing the left rear light with his baton.

  I wanted to call him on his shit, he could see that I was losing it as I stood with clenched fists.

  “You got something to say boy?” He asked leaning close to get in my face.

  I shook my head from side to side trying to gain my composure. Losing it now wouldn’t do me any favours.

  “What’s in the van?” He asked pointing towards the door.

  “Nothing that you’d be interested in.” I stated coldly still staring at the arsehole in front of me.

  “I’ll be the judge of that, get it open.” He screamed.

  His colleague had now joined us after speaking to Buster. I took the keys from my pocket and turned so that I was looking at the officers to see their excited faces. Had they been tipped off? I’d given them no reason what so ever to pull me over. The van was legit and I was driving under the speed limit, there had to be a reason for them to pull me over. They looked like kids at Christmas, rubbing their hands together excitedly as I turned the key in the lock.

  They both moved closer to get a better look at the boxes inside.

  “Would you please do the honour of opening one of the packages?” The taller officer asked eagerly.

  “Sure.” I jumped into the back of the van and used my key to tear through the parcel tape and open the first box.

  “Give it here.” The second officer shouted as he leaned closer to retrieve it. “What the fuck is this?” he asked rummaging through the box.

  “Car and motorcycle parts. Like I said nothing that you’d be interested in.” I smiled at the police officers as I handed them the paperwork from my back pocket.

  They flicked through the documents several times as they muttered between themselves with pure anger registering on their faces.

  “Get that fucking brake light fixed.” The taller officer stated as he pushed the paperwork into my chest.

  I stood there silently watching the two men get back into their vehicle with a smug look on my face. Once they’d pulled away into the moving traffic, I quickly secured the open box and closed the doors.

  “Why haven’t we been arrested?” Buster asked almost relieved.

  “Because we haven’t done anything wrong.” I said smugly as I inserted the ear piece and turned the mic on.

  “Woods. All clear, I’ll meet you at the next services.” I started the engine and pulled into the slow lane, to the cheers and whoops from the mic.

  “You did good Tyler, you did good!”

  Duke didn’t give words of encouragement often so when he did, it made them all the sweeter.

  CJ

  Locke and I were standing in knee high grass on the outskirts of a deserted carpark in the middle of the nine ache woods. How did anyone even know this place existed to even suggest it for a drop?

  It was now starting to drizzle and I was getting colder and more irritable the longer we stood here. There was no point talking to Locke, he was having one of his moments so I was better with my own thoughts, I’d probably get a better response anyway.

  Rev and three members of the Kent charter stood over to my left and the guys that we were delivering to, were sitting nice and warm in their vans. I loved my Harley but on days like this, what I wouldn’t give for a nice warm car.

  “Looks like Duke and the guys aren’t coming.” Rev said almost looking pleased with himself.

  “They’ll be here.” I stated, trying to sound more confident than I was currently feeling. I looked at my watch again to see that they were now twenty minutes late. I was about to give Woods a call when I heard the sound of a vehicle approaching. I let out a sigh of relief as I looked over to Rev and winked to try and wind him up.

  Rev ignored me and stalked into the middle of the carpark to greet the approaching van with myself and Locke following closely behind him. We were all surprised to see Justice and Ramsey in the front of the vehicle and I looked around quickly to see if any other club members were with them.

  Justice got out of the van, “Sorry we’re late. It took us fucking ages to find this place.”

  “Not a problem man, I’m just pleased you arrived.” I shook his hand and patted him on the back with the other.

  “Where’s Duke?” I whispered so that Rev couldn’t hear.

  “Long story, I’ll explain later.”

  We were introduced to Jace and I slowly stepped back letting Justice run the show as he was the highest ranked member of the club and obviously knew more about this operation than Locke and I. Once Jace had taken a look at the contents of the van, he removed two tablets and called over Simon, the smallest member of his gang.

  “Try these.” He handed the young lad the tablets and Simon swallowed with no questions asked.

  Jace told Ramsey to back up the van so that the drugs could be transferred into their vehicles which would take around half an hour, just long enough to see that effectiveness of the drugs we were selling.

  “Simon, you alright man?”

  The group looked over at the lad who was standing in the middle of the car park with his arms stretched wide, looking up at the sky as he rotated in circles. He glanced at us quickly to give us a thumbs up and continued to spin.

  “I think we’re good to go.” Justice said as he zipped up the holdalls full of cash and shook Jace’s hand.

  “Nice doing business with you man. See you in a couple of weeks.” Jace walked over to Simon and directed him towards the van clearly getting annoyed at the attention he was receiving from Simon as he stroked Jace’s hair.

  “Thanks for sorting this out Rev. Duke sends his apologies for not being able to make it.” Justice walked over to shake Rev’s hand and I saw a flash of something on his face. Was it resentment, anger, I wasn’t sure but I planned on finding out where the rest of the guys were and why I wasn’t informed of the change of plan.

  Rev smiled tightly as he accepted Justices hand. “Tell Duke I’ll be in touch.” Rev quickly turned mounting his ride along with his three goons and left the car park quickly followed by Jace. We waved to the toots of their horns.

  “What the fucking hell has gone on today?” I asked Justice as he started to divide the money evenly between three rucksacks.

  “Woods only informed us of his plan this morning. Said it had to be that way in order for it to work.”

  “Why did he have a plan in the first place? What’s gone on?” I was now starting to get concerned about the rest of the guys and a little annoyed at not being informed. I was well aware that I was the last patched member but I’d earned respect over the past two years. My surveillance and communication skills learned in the army had been needed on numerous occasions but I was now feeling that I was being left out of the loop.

  “The other convoy got pulled over by the police, just after the Strood and Rochester turning. If we hadn’t of switched the drugs to this van, Tyler and Buster would be at her majesties pleasure, serving between five to eight years at best.”

  I let out a loud whistle understanding the severity of what could have happened.

  “Where are they all now?” I asked confused about what had gone on this morning.

  “Eating at the Medway Services. Come on, I’m starving. Let’s grab some food before we head home.”

  Duke

  What a fucking day
it had been. I’d just taken a shower and was now sitting in my office analysing today’s events. I reached over to pick up the photo of Viper and I on the day I became a patched member of the club. That was a fucking great day, I had fond memories. What would Viper do in a situation like this? We’d obviously been double crossed. Someone had grassed on us as the police knew exactly where we were and what we may be carrying.

  “Is it okay to come in?” Woods said lingering at the door.

  I placed the photo back on the desk, “Sure man, take a seat. Do you want one of these?” I said holding up a glass of Jack.

  “No thanks, I’ve got plans this evening and need to keep a straight head.”

  I drained my glass and filled it again with the amber liquid. God that was going down too easy this evening, I’d better slow down or the guys would be calling Amy again in the morning, the thought of that made me snigger earning me a confused look from Woods.

  At that point Diesel and Bear entered the room talking among themselves. Bear quietly closed the door behind him as they sat themselves down in various places around my office.

  “I just wanted to start by saying how grateful we all are for your thorough planning of this operation Woods. If it wasn’t for you, Tyler and Buster would now be sitting in a police station somewhere.”

  “Just doing my job Duke.” Woods said being the humble man that he was and taking everything in his stride.

  “We’ve a problem though. Someone grassed on us so we either have a rat within or it’s someone outside of the club that knew what we were up to today.”

  We all sat there thoughtfully. I hated to think we had a rat, I trusted all the brothers with my life and I hoped they thought the same of me.

  “Any hunches?” I asked the group. I could see that Bear had something on his mind. “What’s up Bear?”

  “It’s just something that CJ said when he returned.” He’d spiked my interest. “Rev was almost pleased when he thought you hadn’t shown. Now that could be for a number of different reasons such as he was pleased that the deal didn’t go through, you’d have to make contact with him again, which he knows you’d hate or…”

  “Or what Bear?”

  “Or he thought you or the guys had been arrested for having a large quantity of drugs on you. I mean it’s all coincidental,”

  “Like a lot of things.” I stated, clearly thinking about Viper and the way he died.

  “Yes but CJ also said that Rev was clearly pissed when the van turned up, which backs up the theory.”

  “But we’ve nothing concrete to tie him to this either.” Diesel said as he got up to pace the room.

  I looked at them thoughtfully, “Yet!”

  Chapter 8

  Taylor

  I’d been nervous all day thinking about going to the club this evening. Duke had made it perfectly clear that he wasn’t interested. So why was I now sitting here in the car park all dolled up to the nines with a nervous tension in my stomach?

  I looked at myself in the visor and applied another coat of lip stick. Taking a deep breath, I exited the car as conservatively as possible so as not to flash the world my underwear in my short dress. I walked around to the rear of the vehicle and opened the trunk to remove the heavy suitcase that contained my equipment.

  “Do you need a hand?” I turned to see Spike approaching my car.

  “Ever the gentleman,” I gave Spike a genuine smile, “Thank you.”

  I stepped aside allowing him room to retrieve the suitcase with ease. Spike carried the suitcase like it weighed nothing, across the carpark as the wheels probably wouldn’t have worked on the gravel.

  “Whilst I have you alone, I just wanted to apologise for my sharpness the other day at the salon.”

  He looked at me confused and then I saw his recollection, “It’s my fault. I shouldn’t have asked you about your relationship with Duke. I know it’s none of my business.” He stopped in his tracks and looked at me intently still holding the suitcase, “Duke’s drunk tonight.” I looked at Spike not understanding his statement, “It’s probably best to stay away from him this evening.”

  I smiled and shrugged my shoulders, “I’m here to work Spike, nothing else.”

  He looked me up and down assessing my attire with a wide smile, shaking his head slightly in humour, “Obviously!”

  Spike put the suitcase on the ground and used the handle to pull it through the bar area, leading me to the back rooms where I would be working on the girls. I turned to the sound of laughter to see Duke at his usual table. He had two girls sitting either side of him, hanging on his every word. His arms were casually draped around their shoulders as they giggled and gyrated next to him.

  Spike gently tugged on my hand, “Come on Taylor, you don’t want to see the car crash.”

  I pulled my gaze away from him but not before I saw Yasmin place herself on his lap as she gave me a wink from across the room. Bitch!

  Spike led me to the dressing rooms placing the suitcase in the corner out of the way. I looked around taking in the endless trail of clothes and smelt the combination of a variety of different perfumes which made me think that there must be a lot of women in tonight.

  Spike pulled me from my thoughts as he positioned his hands gently on my shoulders, “Don’t beat yourself up about it, he’s got a lot going on at the moment.”

  My smile was tight as I took in this information. Did I really give a shit if he had a lot going on or not? The door opened and we both turned looking at Savannah as she sauntered into the room.

  “If I’m disturbing something, I can always come back!” She said with a wink.

  I stepped back abruptly so that Spike’s hands fell off my shoulders. He briefly narrowed his eyes as if assessing me, before turning on his heels. Savannah walked further into the room positioning herself in one of the chairs observing the situation playing out between us.

  As Spike eased the door open slightly to go into the corridor he turned towards me, “I forgot to say, how hot you look tonight Taylor.” Spike winked before closing the door.

  “OMG, what was all that about?” Savannah asked intrigued as I tried to gain my composure. I quickly moved the suitcase over to where she was sitting.

  “Nothing, he was just offering me some friendly advice.”

  Savannah scoffed as she swung round in the chair positioning herself in front of the mirror. “And I suppose by the look on your face this conversation is over again.” I grinned and nodded my head in agreement.

  “What colour are you having this evening?”

  Savannah looked through my collection of eye shadows, “It’s gotta be purple. I have a new costume this evening.” She said shimmying her shoulders so that her breasts wiggled.

  I burst out laughing as she stood and continued to move around in time to the music that could be heard from the bar. Savannah bent over shaking her arse in front of me and then started to take it slow by gyrating her hips and giving me a lap dance. She hummed the tune as she moved seductively and made different sexual facial expressions with every move that provoked tears to stream down my cheeks from laughing so hard. Savannah continued to provocatively move her body. She glanced around at me and took both of my hands gently placing them on her thighs encouraging me to touch her. I was heterosexual but I could totally appreciate the female form and the sex appeal she was generating. I heard a noise from behind me but I was now totally consumed in Savannah’s performance that I allowed her to continue to gyrate her hips showing her new routine.

  “What the fucks going on?” I turned to see Duke’s furious face as he stood in the doorway looking menacing. As I looked closer I could see what looked to be a fresh bruise on his left cheek and a slight cut on his lip. “I thought you didn’t do private lap dances.” He totally ignored me and glared directly at Savannah, scolding her like she was a child. Duke folded his arms across his broad chest as he leaned on the doorframe.

  Thoughts of our first encounter sprang to mind. Oh how thing
s can change in a week!

  “Oh for god’s sake Duke lighten up, we were only having a bit of fun. You should try it sometime!” Savannah stopped dancing and sat back in her chair like a petulant child with a scowl on her beautiful face. I ignored Duke and swivelled my chair so that I was now facing Savannah.

  “You’re up in thirty minutes, make sure you’re ready.” Duke stalked out of the room slamming the door behind him.

  I picked up the purple eye shadow and started to apply it to Savannahs face. “What the hell is going on with him? He’s acting like such a cock.” I stopped applying the make up as Savannah’s smile grew.

  “That my dear is a tormented man. He doesn’t know how to deal with his feelings for you.”

  I scoffed, “Feelings for me? Don’t be stupid.”

  Savannah shook her head and placed her hand on my arm gently, “I’ve known Duke a long time Taylor and I’ve never seen him like this. He’s made it clear over the years that he doesn’t do ‘drama’ as he puts it but you have most certainly thrown him a curveball.”

  I continued to apply the heavy make up around her eyes, finishing it off with mascara and eyeliner.

  “What do you think?”

  Savannah blew me a kiss, “Fabulous.”

  I started to ponder on what Savannah had just said when Rachel walked into the room.

  “Are you ready for me yet Taylor?” I nodded as I started to pack away some of the products that I’d just used on Savannah.

  “I’m going to get dressed. I hope you’re going to watch my new routine.” Savannah stood making her way further into the dressing area.

  “Haven’t I already seen it?” I smirked with a wink.

  I finished Rachel’s hair and make-up and rushed into the bar as I heard the intro to ‘Skin’ by Rihanna. This was the routine she’d been working on and god did this lady know how to move. Savannah was the club’s star attraction so she didn’t have to go around and collect money from the punters. She informed me that this created an air of mystique which encouraged the punters to give more tips and she was the only girl not to do full nudity or private lap dances.